Shippers played waiting game during ILA negotiations

Thursday, October 04, 2012

The reaction of cargo owners toward an unresolved contract negotiation between longshoremen and maritime employers that could have led to a shutdown of East and Gulf coast container ports this week was more muted than their rhetoric suggested, according to executives at CEVA Logistics. The International Longshoremen's Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, representing terminal operators and ocean carriers, two weeks ago agreed with the help of a federal mediator to a three-month contract extension, averting a work stoppage while talks on a new, master contract continue. The original contract was scheduled to expire on Sept. 30 and union officials had signaled their intent to go on strike. Shippers, ...